Assam: 4,670 child marriages reported in about two years, 3,483 arrested

NGOs and child rights activists said that lack of schools, poverty and poor awareness were major reasons resulting in child marriages

Assam reported 4,670 incidents of child marriages between April 2021 and February this year and 3,483 persons have been arrested so far under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, the state government informed the Assembly.

The information furnished by the state home department further said that a total of 1,182 arrested persons are still in judicial custody while 2,253 others have been released on bail.

Also Read: No child marriage in last one month in Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma

The department furnished the information on Monday while replying to the questions by Akhil Gogoi, MLA of Raijor Dal, an Opposition party, during the ongoing Budget Session of the Assembly.

The information was tabled at a time the state police was carrying out a "crackdown" against child marriages across Assam. The drive was launched based on a decision taken by the state cabinet on January 23 this year. The BJP-led government said that child marriage have been found to be one of the major reasons behind high rate of infant and maternal mortality rate in the state. The state also has high rate of teenage pregnancies due to child marriage.

According to the details furnished by the state home department, Dhubri district topped the list of child marriage cases and arrests followed by Kokrajhar, South Salmara, Udalguri, Bongaigaon, Hojai, Cachar, Karimganj and Morigaon districts. The state government said although the "crackdown" is not targeted against any community, child marriage has been found rampant in the districts with majority population of Bengali-speaking Muslims. The child marriage is also a concern in areas inside tea estates and in tribal communities.

NGOs and child rights activists, however, said that lack of schools, poverty and poor awareness were major reasons resulting in child marriages, particularly in the char or riverine areas, mostly inhibited by the Muslims.

The department said the secretaries of the panchayats have been recently designated as Child Marriage Prohibition officer under the Child Marriage Prohibition Act 2006 in order to prevent child marriages. They have been asked to lodge police complaint in case of a child marriage in their areas and also help the government departments to carry out awareness drives against the illegal practice.